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http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01bz60d065j
Title: | Pleonexia in Plato and in Aristotle |
Authors: | Zimecki, Christen |
Advisors: | Lorenz, Hendrik |
Contributors: | Philosophy Department |
Subjects: | Philosophy Classical studies |
Issue Date: | 2024 |
Publisher: | Princeton, NJ : Princeton University |
Abstract: | This dissertation is a study of ancient Greek philosophical views of pleonexia. That is, the character trait that someone has when she is disposed to wanting more of something, say, wealth or political power, and aims to take more of it at the expense of others. The first part concerns the Platonic conception of pleonexia. In chapter one, I call attention to a passage from Laws, according to which pleonexia is a trait that may be found in a body, in the kosmos, or in a political community. Based on this puzzling passage, as well as other passages from Republic, I argue that it is some kind of structural flaw, which is a flaw that something has on the basis of some persisting problem in its structure. In chapter two, I discuss a passage in Timaeus in which pleonexia is conceived of as one or more element increasing in a body, which over time ruins its internal structure. I show that this conception is consistent with the foregoing interpretation of a flaw, which in turn suggests that the foregoing interpretation is correct. I end with some thoughts on the Platonic conception of pleonexia as an analogous psychological flaw that disposes a person to commit acts of injustice.The second part of this dissertation concerns the Aristotelian conception of pleonexia. In chapter three, I discuss the account of pleonexia that is found in Nicomachean Ethics, according to which it is the vice that someone has when she is disposed to take more for the pleasure of gain. I then raise a question about this conception of pleonexia. I ask about the reason that this vice is conceived of as a disposition to gain at the expense of another person. (Aristotle seems to make this point without offering an explanation.) In chapter four, I turn to Politics to fill in some missing details from the account of pleonexia in Nicomachean Ethics. I argue that the pleonectic agent regards some people as political rivals, and that this person deliberately pursues gain at their expense based on the belief that it is what she and they deserve. |
URI: | http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01bz60d065j |
Type of Material: | Academic dissertations (Ph.D.) |
Language: | en |
Appears in Collections: | Philosophy |
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